Based on a recent study of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK stated that 60% of councils are planning to sell assets to cover the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for disposing of public land and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a significant number of councils attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders stated they would focus on service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in Kent said its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in another town to generate 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Financial Pressures
This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of authorities will have to raise council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
The authority said it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures take time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
Research of county councils recently also found council budgets being strained by the growing number of children and adults requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a white paper outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several key cities members were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“Although only a single urban area is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures underscores the extent of challenges confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the study found.
